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River Park Square demolition will move forward

PLYMOUTH - River Park Square will move ahead with the next phase.
The Plymouth Redevelopment Commission gave City Engineer Rick Gaul and City Attorney Sean Surrisi permission to put together bid specifications and requests for demolition of three properties in the project to be reviewed at the Commission’s next meeting. Work on the flood permit for the construction has been completed and it is hoped it will be finished by next month.
The project will begin with demolition of the structures which became complicated with the discovery of a fuel tank on the property on LaPorte Street. The tank is half full and is thought to contain fuel oil instead of gasoline - a positive since fuel oil is less costly to dispose of.
While the tank is not leaking, soil tests will have to be conducted in the area once the tank is removed to be sure no contamination in need of remediation is present before demolition. The plan is to drain the tank first before removal to lessen the possibility of any contamination occuring during the removal process.
Surrisi suggested that the Commission submit specifications to bidders for the demolition that excluded any cost that might happen if remediation is necessary, and treat any remediation as a separate cost.
The Commission voted to give Surrisi the authority to seek bids for review and to seek a contractor to drain the fuel tank as long as the process did not cost more than $500.
The Commission also voted to pay an invoice to the Troyer group of $6900 for work on the project.
In another action the Commission was informed that flood plain work continues by Banning Engineering in regards to the proposed Garmong “shell building”.

Redevelopment approves final Oak Road invoices

PLYMOUTH - The Oak Drive project may finally be winding to an end, at least as far as the bills for Plymouth’s Redevelopment Commission.
Plymouth City Engineer Rick Gaul came before the Commission with final change orders and invoices. The project began in March of 2011 to renovate and upgrade the short stretch of Oak Drive by Walmart and Kmart on the city’s northwest side. A workers strike in the course of the construction lengthened the process.
The change orders were actually revisions to a previous change order approved several months ago by the Commission. Gaul was required to break a larger change order into different parts that showed the amount of days involved in each step in the previous change order in order to meet Indiana Department of Transportation requirements for reimbursement. The change order items involved were changes in the number of days allowed for the items and did not involve any change in dollar amounts.
Cripe Engineering presented the Commission with final invoices for the construction engineering on the project. Final approval on the project from INDOT is still pending. Verifying quantities of materials, contractor evaluations and review of documents is still in process.
Cripe presented the Commission with one bill for $31,434 for final engineering on the project and another bill for $9800 for engineering on the water main for the area. The project engineering bill is subject to an 80-20 federal fund match. The water main is entirely the city’s to pay.
The Commission also received an invoice from NIPSCO for $58,726 for relocation of gas lines in the area of the project. That bill as well is subject to an 80-20 federal fund match.
The Commission voted to approve payment in all three cases. The water main bill will be paid now since the city is responsible for the entire amount. The construction engineering and NIPSCO invoices will be paid when the city receives the INDOT matching funds for the project.
Utilities Superintendent Donnie Davidson also reported to the Commission that he would be presenting an invoice for pre-project engineering on the Pioneer Drive lift station improvements for $37,000 to the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety at it’s next meeting.
Davidson also reported that progress on the Pine Road water project continues with a meeting on Friday. One well already developed at the site is thought to be adequate for the project, whether a second well started is possible is still being studied.
The Commission voted to pay an invoice of $95,753 for work so far on the project.